The road season is winding down, but Canadians were out in full force over the weekend. In Japan, the Utsunomiya Japan Cup was taking place—a 144.2-km hilly road race. The track worlds were finishing in Denmark, and also in Asia, the final stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi was held on Sunday.
Mike Woods 4th at Japan Cup
National champion Michael Woods (Israel – Premier Tech) wrapped up his 2024 season with fourth place in Saturday’s Utsunomiya Japan Cup Road Race, a UCI 1.Pro-rated race running its 31st edition. American Neilson Powless was the winner for the second time. In 2019, Woods was runner-up. On Friday, Woods came 10th in the Japan Cup Criterium. Utsunomiya is a city 100 km north of Tokyo.
EF Education-Easypost’s Neilson Powless won the race, with Ilan Van Wilder (Soudal-QuickStep) in second and Matej Mohorič (Bahrain-Victorious) in third.
Bibic takes bronze in Denmark
Canada didn’t bring home much hardware from the track worlds in Ballerup, Denmark—though the women’s team pursuit came close with a fourth-place finish. On the final day, Dylan Bibic secured a bronze medal in the elimination race, his third medal at the track worlds over the years.
Canada’s Dylan Bibic earns bronze at UCI Track World Championships
Michael Leonard ends season off with 100-km break
Ineos Grenadiers’ Michael Leonard went for an all-day flyer in the last stage of the Gree-Tour of Guangxi. Stage six in Nanning was 134 km, and Leonard was in a break for 97 km of it. The move didn’t make it, unfortunately, with Matevž Govekar (Bahrain-Victorious) taking the win.
Leonard, who had a big win at the Tour de L’Avenir prologue in September, taking the yellow jersey, rolled in 94th. The other Canadian at the race, Riley Pickrell (Israel – Premier Tech), had some strong results in China. He finished third (Stage 3), 7th (Stage 4), and 9th (Stage 1). Pickrell would end up 13th overall in the points competition.
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